Quote for the Day

From Abraham Heschel:

"The higher goal of spiritual living is nt to amass a wealth of information, but to face sacred moments....
A moment of insight is a fortune, transporting us beyond the confines of measured time."

Quote for the Day

From Abraham Heschel:

"The higher goal of spiritual living is nt to amass a wealth of information, but to face sacred moments....
A moment of insight is a fortune, transporting us beyond the confines of measured time."

Sending and Receiving the Angels

Reflection II: The Thirteen Petalled Rose by Adin Steinsaltz

For introduction and background please see previous blog, "A World of Angels."

Steinsaltz continues:
"The real difference between man and angel is not the fact that man has a body, because the essential comparison is between the human soul and the angel. The soul of man is most complex and includes a whole world of different existential elements of all kinds, while the angel is a being of single essence and therefore in a sense one-dimensional." (p 9)

I recall how Walter Wink (Naming the Powers, Unmasking the Powers, Engaging the Powers) speaks of angels as power entities. They represent spiritual forces at work in the world. He cites the angel which confronts Balaam (Numbers 22) and the contention of the angels of Persia and Michael, the chief angel of God in Daniel 10. These spiritual powers are one-dimensional serving good or evil according to their programming. According to Wink, however, the angel of a nation, or the angel of an institution can be "converted," can change its mind. In other words the relationship between angels as spiritual powers and humans in history goes both ways: angels affect humans, and humans affect angels. This is the substance of prayer according to Wink.

Steinsaltz adds an interesting twist to his analysis. He contends that humans by their actions on earth actually create and send angels into the worlds. Remember that Steinsaltz has described four interrelated, overlapping and yet distinct worlds: the world of action, the world of formation, the world of creation and the world of emanation. Angels are primarily creatures of feeling and belong in the world of formation. He writes:
"More, precisely, the person who performs a mitzvah, who prays or directs his mind toward the Divine, in so doing creates an angel, which is a sort of reaching out on the part of man to the higher worlds. Such an angel, however, connected in its essence to the man who created it, still lives, on the whole, in a different dimension of being, namely in the world of formation." (p 11) In this way angels are released to the world of formation. And these angels can then be sent on missions to the world of action. The angels created and released into the worlds can be good or evil. The human acts which create them determine whether they are angels of mercy, healing, hope or demons of suffering, violence and despair.

""Each angel has a well-defined character which is manifested in the way it functions in our world. This is why it is said that an angel can carry out only one mission, for the essence of an angel is beyond the existing many-sidedness of man. The particular essence of an angel can be evinced in terms of different things and separate forms, but it remains a single thing in itself, like a simple force of nature. Because even though the angel is a being that possesses divine consciousness, its specific essence and function are not altered by it, just as physical forces in the world are specific and single in their mode of functioning and do not keep changing their essences. It follows, then, that just as there are holy angels, built into and created by the sacred system, there are also destructive angels, called 'devils' or demons,' who are the emanations of the connection of man with those aspects of reality which are opposite of holiness." (pp16-17)

The connection, relationship, transportation between the world of angels and the world of action is intriguing. As one is aware of one's actions, even one's thoughts and feelings, having significance beyond one's immediate world it is certainly a call to mindfulness and mitzvah! As one is aware of the potential for words and deeds to take on lives of their own, to inhabit the future in spiritual ways, it is both sobering and hopeful--sobering that the consequences of our lives have such depth and hopeful that we indeed stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, the great ones as well as those more feeble. May we in the world of action take heed of the angels sent to us, and the ones we are sending.

P Moe 2-8-06

Sending and Receiving the Angels

Reflection II: The Thirteen Petalled Rose by Adin Steinsaltz

For introduction and background please see previous blog, "A World of Angels."

Steinsaltz continues:
"The real difference between man and angel is not the fact that man has a body, because the essential comparison is between the human soul and the angel. The soul of man is most complex and includes a whole world of different existential elements of all kinds, while the angel is a being of single essence and therefore in a sense one-dimensional." (p 9)

I recall how Walter Wink (Naming the Powers, Unmasking the Powers, Engaging the Powers) speaks of angels as power entities. They represent spiritual forces at work in the world. He cites the angel which confronts Balaam (Numbers 22) and the contention of the angels of Persia and Michael, the chief angel of God in Daniel 10. These spiritual powers are one-dimensional serving good or evil according to their programming. According to Wink, however, the angel of a nation, or the angel of an institution can be "converted," can change its mind. In other words the relationship between angels as spiritual powers and humans in history goes both ways: angels affect humans, and humans affect angels. This is the substance of prayer according to Wink.

Steinsaltz adds an interesting twist to his analysis. He contends that humans by their actions on earth actually create and send angels into the worlds. Remember that Steinsaltz has described four interrelated, overlapping and yet distinct worlds: the world of action, the world of formation, the world of creation and the world of emanation. Angels are primarily creatures of feeling and belong in the world of formation. He writes:
"More, precisely, the person who performs a mitzvah, who prays or directs his mind toward the Divine, in so doing creates an angel, which is a sort of reaching out on the part of man to the higher worlds. Such an angel, however, connected in its essence to the man who created it, still lives, on the whole, in a different dimension of being, namely in the world of formation." (p 11) In this way angels are released to the world of formation. And these angels can then be sent on missions to the world of action. The angels created and released into the worlds can be good or evil. The human acts which create them determine whether they are angels of mercy, healing, hope or demons of suffering, violence and despair.

""Each angel has a well-defined character which is manifested in the way it functions in our world. This is why it is said that an angel can carry out only one mission, for the essence of an angel is beyond the existing many-sidedness of man. The particular essence of an angel can be evinced in terms of different things and separate forms, but it remains a single thing in itself, like a simple force of nature. Because even though the angel is a being that possesses divine consciousness, its specific essence and function are not altered by it, just as physical forces in the world are specific and single in their mode of functioning and do not keep changing their essences. It follows, then, that just as there are holy angels, built into and created by the sacred system, there are also destructive angels, called 'devils' or demons,' who are the emanations of the connection of man with those aspects of reality which are opposite of holiness." (pp16-17)

The connection, relationship, transportation between the world of angels and the world of action is intriguing. As one is aware of one's actions, even one's thoughts and feelings, having significance beyond one's immediate world it is certainly a call to mindfulness and mitzvah! As one is aware of the potential for words and deeds to take on lives of their own, to inhabit the future in spiritual ways, it is both sobering and hopeful--sobering that the consequences of our lives have such depth and hopeful that we indeed stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, the great ones as well as those more feeble. May we in the world of action take heed of the angels sent to us, and the ones we are sending.

P Moe 2-8-06

Worlds of Angels

I am inspired to begin blogging again following a hiatus. This inspiration comes third hand. First from Rabbi Joey Wolf, a respected colleague in MACG, who recommended I read some of Rabbi Lawrence Kushner's books on mystical judaism (The River of Light, Surely God is in This Place, and most recently An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism). Kushner is the second link in my inspiration. While I seldom note the footnotes in a book, I was attracted to references in Kushner's volume on Jewish mysticism to Adin Steinsaltz' The Thirteen Petalled Rose. Third time is the charm as I found this little book packed with intriguing ideas and inspiring connections to my own journey and interests. So, I want to spend the next few weeks unpacking and reflecting on this gem of a book. I hope this will also inspire you in some fourth hand way to discover some of the insight and joy I have found in my one to one with Steinsaltz through this little book.

I say one to one self consciously because I have entered into relationship with the thoughts and ideas of this book. I have questioned and been questioned. I have felt moved, wondered, pondered, sighed, been lifted up. I have written in the margins, underlined and copied quotes into my journal. I even used a long piece in a recent sermon. Something continues to attract me powerfully, intellectually and mystically. So here I go! Blogs away!

I cannot adequately summarize each chapter or idea, so I want to pick the low hanging fruit for each reflection. I trust if what I write intrigues, you will feel invited to pick up the book for yourself!

I begin with "Worlds," the first chapter. He lays out four worlds, from highest to lowest: "emanation," "creation," "formation," and "action," the world in which we ordinarily live. Each world has within it subdivisions. For example, the world of action includes the physical world of more or less mechanical processes and the world of spiritual action. Thus material and spiritual are held together, if in tension. I will reflect on the higher worlds in later blogs. Today I want to concentrate on the world of action and the world directly above it, the world of formation. Key to the relationship of these worlds are the angels.

"The world of formation may be said to be, in its essence, a world of feeling. It is a world whose main substance, or type of experience, is emotion of one kind or another, and in which such emotions are the elements that determine its patterns. The living beings in it are conscious manifestations of particular impulses--impulses to perform one or another act or respond in one or another way--or of the power to carry through an incentive, to realize, to fulfill the tendency of an inclination or an inspiration. The living creatures of the world of formation, the beings who function in the world of action, are called, in a general way, 'angels.'
(pp 7-8)

Angels, as I am coming to understand it from Steinsaltz, then function in the world of formation--the "before" of actions in the world, the premeditations, the inclinations, the impulses, the multitudes of possibilities, the swirls of feelings which give rise to any given action in the world of action. The angels of formation are above and below one another in terms of their power, and are various in their purpose and direction. One angel may be an inclination to love. Another an inclination to fear. While each angel is unique and manifests a specific emotion or gradation of emotion, angels group together in "camps" and "mansions" to exert influence in the world of action. Steinsaltz writes:
"The essence of an angel, therefore, is defined by the limits of a particular emotion, in terms of itself, just as personality and inwardness define the self of each person in our world. an angel, however, is not merely a fragment of existence doing nothing more than just manifesting an emotion; it is a whole and intergral being, conscious of itself and its surroundings and able to act and create and do things within the framework of the world of formation. The nature of the angel is to be, to a degree, as its name in Hebrew signifies, a messenger, to constitute a permanent contact between our world of action and the higher worlds." (p 9)

This helps me see some of the Bible stories in new light! Jacob wrestling with the angel, among other things, is his wrestling with his fear of meeting his brother Esau, whom he has betrayed. It is wrestling with the angel of this emotional reunion. It is wrestling for a blessing in the turmoil of recoverying his self. All the elements of a trans-world experience are present: it is night (is he in dreamland?), he is at a crossroads (literally ready to cross the river to the other side), he is in turmoil spiritually and emotionally, a place God can gain access to him, what Marcus Borg calls, a "thin place".

This helps me understand why angels so often say, "Fear Not!" Because the angels manifesting fear are strong, the angels bringing love, faith, hope need to exert themselve! I think also of the angels in the Christmas story. First a single messenger to the shepherds, then a "heavenly host" (a whole "camp" indeed a "mansion" of angels) manifesting peace and goodwill for all!

Next week I will continue to reflect on the worlds. May the angels of curiosity and joy inspire you!

Peace,

P Moe 1-30-06

THE OCEAN AND THE WAVES

Both Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist mystic and teacher, and Lawrence Kushner, Jewish mystic and teacher, use the image of the ocean and the waves to reflect on the relationship of the human and spiritual, the big and the small, the connectivity of all things. It is a compelling, humbling and helpful image.

The wave and the ocean are both made of water. They are both elemental in this sense. They both exist in and of water. Yet they are not the same.

The waves live and move and have their being in water. They are temporary. They are fleeting. They are energy and movement and life. One can see them on the surface of the water, sometimes breaking open the thin skin of covering to reveal the white essence just below its motion. Sometimes rolling almost imperceptibly across the surface to create but a ripple at the shore.

The ocean, while also water, is not just the waves on the surface, but is The Beneath, The Under and The Before of the waves. It is the Ground of Being, the Fount of Livingness, the Great All from which the waves emerge. It is Before Life and is Life. It is under all things. It, too, moves and lives at a much deeper level. In its depths live creatures unknown on the surface of waves. Its currents move to deeper rhythms. Its secrets are buried in darkness, caverns as deep as mountains are high.

And wave and ocean are deeply connected. For each water is the essence. At the intersection of ocean and atmosphere the wave is connectivity. Breathing the wind above, feeling the current beneath, responding to heavenly signals from lunar mysteries, the wave begins, rolls and breaks, relentlessly, persistently, inevitably. Rolling, breaking water bubbling up from below and crashing open in mindful, life-giving cycle of birth/death/resurrection.

If we are waves on the ocean of nirvana, we are connected to the water inextricably. If we are waves moving at the moonstruck rhythms, we are connected to the stars. If we are waves individually and generationally called into time and space for awhile, we are connected with one another on the surface of history, and deeply beneath in the ocean of being from which we have emerged, to which we return and in which we now exist.

May we know our life as waves. May we be mindful of the ocean in which we live. May we honor the water of wave and ocean.

P Moe
12/06/05

Katrina! Katrina!

We've heard the stories of Katrina and the other hurricanes devastating Mexico, the Carribean and parts of the USA South. But there's another Katrina, who has a story too. She sat at Enterbeing last month and told a story of hope and courage and healing.

Katrina is eleven. A year ago her two year old brother died. She brought pictures of him as well as the folder from his memorial service. She also brought photographs she had taken as part of her healing process at the Dougy Center. Accompanied by her mom and an AmeriCorp Volunteer who has helped with the photography project at Dougy Center, Katrina sat in the circle and told her story, pointing to the photos on the wall as she spoke.

"This one, I like, because it's the Dougy Center, and I got so much out of going there--and look how the light is shining on top of the roof--it looks like heaven is shining on it. That's the way I feel about the Dougy Center, that it is a part of heaven." Then her finger would point around the circle of the photographs on the wall as if she were showing us a photo album in her own living room--"this one's my goat--see how gruff he looks?--he's not really..." "I took this one of my cat because he got all tangled up in the blanket" Some of her pictures are funny. And she is aware of how the humor in her photos has been part of the healing magic of the project. She circled the gallery of her own snapshots with her pointer finger, all neatly framed, and then came back to the death of her brother--"It was really good for me to have a place to go where people would listen to me--and taking these pictures somehow helped me get through a very hard time in my life. I'll never be the same because of what Dougy Center did for me."

I wonder how an eleven year old can project such change forever without having live even just a few more years. I wonder how she will feel in a year-or as a 16 year old. How will she wonder about life and death when she has her own children. What impact will the experience of her childhood have on the shape of her existence? What might these photos mean in deep time? For now I am content to hear a little girl struggling with loss, making sense of life and getting on. We all sit in the circle pondering our own experiences of loss, recovery and healing--led by a child. It is good to be here.

In November the photos of Katrina and the other children of the Dougy Center come down. Someone else's work will go up. Our stories will move to health care, healing and life. Still Katrina's face and story are buried in my heart like a photograph album. I know I will look again at death and loss, and Katrina the storm and Katrina the little girl have both taught me courage and hope.

November is a time for us to recall the photos in our own albums. To remember those who have gone before us in faith and to be mindful of the little ones who might teach us. As we listen to one another about our future, as we get on the bus to see what others have done, as we celebrate Thanksgiving and move toward the promises of God in Advent, may we honor the dead by living fully in God's grace.

P Moe November 2005

Enterbeing Visions

Please reflect on these statements of Enterbeing vision. Respond with questions, comments, suggestions!


ENTERBEING

Brings people together in a diverse, welcoming community

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Challenges people seeking a higher way of meaning to dive into core truths

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Provides a nurturing space for intentional reflection and action

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Honors each person’s story and place in the universe

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Accompanies those seeking something to cherish separately or together

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Recognizes the uncertainties which growth brings

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An Artist's Way

AN ARTIST"S JOURNEY

Another young artist, Aaron Trotter, told his story at Enterbeing last Wednesday. Once again the story involved traveling to other countries, drawing pictures, writing a journal or poetry, and taking photographs--just as Verdarluz, several weeks ago. In fact some of the countries visited were the same!

Once again I was struck by how driven both these young men are externally to travel and see the world, but also inwardly as they explore their own inner beings. It's as if the outer journey catapults the soul into realms of reflection and awareness beyond the reach of those who stay at home. And certainly I am aware in my own life how living in Germany and traveling to Israel, El Salvador and most recently Mexico, has thrusted my soul into places I would never have explored.

As I reflect on the connection between one's outer experiences and inner journey I am struck by several things. One, not everyone makes a connection. For some the signal sent from the world to the soul is weak or their receiver is not tuned toward receiving the signal. Perhaps it takes a little more silence and space around our experiences for them to bring their fuller impact.

Two, the power of distant lands and cultures to transform is palpable. Mother Teresa, Albanian by birth, went to India. Bede Griffiths, a Benedictine spiritual writer, spent most of his life in India and wrote passionately about the connections of his Christian understandings and the Hindu ways of life he encountered. He would still have been a Benedictine had he never gone to India, but having lived in India made him a very different Benedictine! Thomas Merton, the Trappist spiritual writer, also benefited from travel though he desired more and more the solitude of the hermitage as he matured. Dietrich Bonhoeffer traveled to America and was moved by African American music and preaching. Others, however, immersed themselves so much in their own context that they were moved inwardly without benefit of physical travel. Jesus never left Palestine (except as a child to Egypt), but Jesus lived between cultures, in Galilee, a crossroads between the Roman and the Jewish and the Samaritan worlds, a place called Galilee of the Nations because of its multicultural dimensions. Between the wilderness and Jerusalem Jesus found spiritual energy and understanding to critique both the Roman and Jewish ways of living in his time.

I wonder how Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement would have played out had he not visited Gandhi. But I also wonder if travel is the only way to spiritual insight? Is it possible to read about it--certainly, though the real experience, the sweat and dirt of each place is so much more powerful, though a good writer can make you feel the dirt and smell the sweat! I'm sure many great spiritual searchers stayed at home.

Could it be that our stories when we tell them are a way of traveling and connecting what is in our experience with our souls? Could it be that the stories are means of spiritual travel and that we can accompany one another in our spiritual journeys? Could it be that we can enter being through many portals and in many ways discover the core truths and values which are already given but need to be uncovered, sometimes by travel to distant lands and sometimes by looking more closely at what's close to home?

P Moe
August 8, 2005